


Stuck in Place

by Commonswift



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Identity crysis, Miscommunication, Suicidal Thoughts, WereCass, Zhan Tiri dies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Commonswift/pseuds/Commonswift
Summary: Rapunzel stops Cassandra from leaving after she stole the Moonstone.
Comments: 48
Kudos: 57





	1. No Crossing Zone

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, welcome to my personal challenge, if this story isn't completed by the end of the month I lose.
> 
> Ps: New chapter of "Living Armor" this Sunday featuring a spooky headless Eugene.

Cassandra was silently simmering in rage, one moment she was finally free to take on the world, the next she's tied up in Rapunzel's hair and on an air balloon directed back to Corona.

"Everything is okay! Cass just acted in the heat of the moment, trust me I am sure she will come around and do the right thing, like always, she just needs time to cool down a bit first" Rapunzel had said to King Edmund and Adira in that cheerful tone of hers and in that moment Cassandra wished to free her arms so that she could strangle her.

Maybe she would have impaled her if she could still control those rocks.

Not that they need to know about that.

Did the princess really have to give back the Shadow blade to Adira?

It seemed she was always going to be waiting in the wings, no matter if she wanted to or not.

Her destiny was just to be irremediably stuck in place.

They were going back to Corona, Rapunzel was just chatting with her like absolutely nothing happened and she wasn't literally tied up in her hair.

The rest of the group was looking at her like some kind of weird exotic animal ready to eat their face or something, while Eugene was openly glaring at her and the Horses had a disappointed look on their faces.

Max was her father's horse so she could understand, but Fidella? She had raised her up when everyone else gave up on that weak foal, how could she?!

Owl was the only one on her side, he was perched on her shoulder and glaring Eugene back.

Time passed and Cassandra swallowed her rage down, leaving space for an blank look, muting up Rapunzel's voice as she mentally recited a weapon care manual.

The princess wanted her to be her servant forever, fine.

That's exactly what she will get and nothing more.

Suddenly Cassandra felt herself being hugged, interrupting a very informative paragraph about cleaning up dried blood from your blade without scratching it.

"Cass! I knew you would come around" Rapunzel shouted out, she rose an eyebrow in question as she was being freed from the hair

"Blondie! wait don't do that" Eugene warned the princess, but it was too late Cassandra was free, but what was the point of doing anything?

She was a servant, she had always been, trying to be anything else just brought her pain as her hopes were crushed each and every time, so she simply laid back to the Air Balloon's casket completely unfazed.

"oh no, the Moonstone it's gone!" Rapunzel exclaimed in alarm, Cassandra looked down to her chest, oh it was true the Moonstone was gone and so was that Black armor she had on, now she was dressed in the ragged remains of her former clothing, she pulled an hair strand to check if it was still blue, it was, but her right hand wasn't charcoal anymore, it had took back a normal shape even if now the skin was of pale blue.

Cassandra took that as an improvement.

"It's okay Cass, we will find a way to take it off you" Rapunzel exclaimed taking her hands in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, Cassandra just looked in her eyes as if trying to communicate with her to back off, this just went all over the Princess's pretty head as she let out one of those smiles she used to swoon over "ah your eyes are back to normal!"

Another unrequested hug that she didn't return.

When she was finally let go, she laid back against the casket and held out her forearm for Owl to perch on, which he did, she didn't care that his talons were cutting into her arm no matter how gently her one and only friend was being, then she brought him closer and started to absently pet him as her mind turned back to cleaning dry blood off blades till a thought stuck her.

What was the purpose of her knowing such things? She remembered memorizing those manuals to try and impress her father, but now she knows that man was never her father, he must have took her in to keep an eye on Gothel's spawn, maybe it was an order from the King.

Thinking about it she doesn't recall a time in her life where she wasn't scrubbing floors, now she's wondering if all her fat-the Captain blabbing about earning her keep was more or less an excuse to make a servant out of her.

King Frederic never liked her, she had picked that much up and she had seen how ruthless he could be with criminals, so would such thing really be out the realm of possibility? To punish the daughter of the Princess's kidnapper to a life of servitude? wasn't it just convenient that she ended up being said Princess's servant? All she was given was an illusion to freedom to make her stay put.

That must be it, no other maid had been threatened with being sent to a convent if they misbehaved or has been overworked as much as she was.

What a fool she was for even thinking she had a chance.

Did she even have a single interest of her own that wasn't tied in with earning the respect of someone else?

Cassandra may be having so many thoughts in her head, but throughout their journey back, her face stayed neutral.

* * *

The moment they set foot in Corona, she could tell something was off, everyone else was acting as if everything was normal and chatting about what they wanted to do, but Cassandra knew better then to voice her concerns, why waste breath? they are going to do as they please anyway, her time was better invested in preparing to neutralize whatever was going to attack them.

She didn't have a sword.

She mentally noted to herself, when this whole mess passed she was going to focus on her hand to hand skills.

That is if dearest King Frederic doesn't outright put her in jail for her little stunt with the Moonstone, but on the other hand if he does then she wouldn't have to scrub floors, sew or do laundry anymore.

Cassandra felt tempted to purposely step on his Majesty's royal foot to ensure such paradise, but she knew she wouldn't be that lucky and she might end up scrubbing floors in chains, maybe with a nice collar and muzzle to humiliate her even more.

Feldspar had said they had been ordered by the King to mine some crystals in a cave, Rapunzel had decided to go straight to the throne room and confront the problem head on.

It was the stupidest the Princess could do, as there was obliviously something wrong with the King if he made such order and going here was just going to make them fall in a trap.

She says absolutely nothing about this and just took preventative action.

She slipped out of the group before they entered the throne room and took another route, one that would allow her to position herself in an hidden spot on the rafters, she stole an halberd from an armor stand on the way here.

No invader would know this castle as well as she does and that passage was obscure to anyone, so she had been confident to find no one on her way and she was right.

She observed the situation from her hiding spot and waited.

Oh look an ambush.

The King and Queen had their memories erased, Saporians were running wild and Varian of all people sided with them, with Varian involved Cassandra had to wait, that kid was a smart cookie and without doubt he had some unpleasant surprises up his sleeves.

This revealed to be the right choice as Varian's little gadgets were wrecking havoc on them.

"I have to admit, I am relieved that I have to fight you and not Cassie, where is my old flame anyway?" she heard Andrew say, or was it Hubert? oh whatever, the Bonehead

"I would really want to know!" Eugene snarled out in rage, Cassandra could clearly see his face darkening, looks like pretty boy was pissed at her, no doubt he was thinking she had bailed on them.

Rapunzel finally noticed she had been missing, the princess's expression looked like a kicked puppy, she would be lying if that didn't make her heart ache a little.

Stupid feelings.

Anyway the group got backed towards a wall, at that point the Saporians had used all their alchemy stuff and only Varian had more on him.

They were all focused on Rapunzel and the others, all grouped together and best of all they were giving their back on her.

Now it was the time.

Cassandra jumped and rolled in the air, swinging the halberd in her hands with all of her strength towards her enemies’ feet as she landed, all Saporians and Varian fell down, but Cassandra wasn't done she let go of the halberd and flipped forward, her hands gripping two magenta spheres off Varian's belt.

She threw them before she even touched ground.

Now they were all stuck and not just by their feet, their whole bodies were glued on the pavement and to each other in a sticky magenta blob.

"Cassie!? What happened to your hair? and c-clothes?" Varian exclaimed in surprise trying to advert his eyes from staring.

"Why did you draw a goatee on your chin?" Cassandra asked back changing the subject, the young Alchemist blushed a bright red in embarrassment and stayed silent.

"Whoa Cassie, now I wish I had been more forward on our dates" Bonehead said, he was outright ogling at her and so were the other Saporian man, Cassandra simply rolled her eyes then walked away towards her room, she was stopped by Rapunzel latching on her arm

"Cass where are you going!?" she asked a bit of fear in her voice

"To change, or would you rather I stay here to get drooled on?" Cassandra answered gesturing back to the Saporians with her head, the princess turned briefly and shuddered at the looks Cassandra was receiving

"Okay! let's go together, I need a change myself" Rapunzel declared cheerfully, but then Eugene stopped the Princess by grabbing her hand

"Rapunzel, we need you here" he had said in completely serious tone, with hesitation she let go of Cassandra "I am sure Cassandra will stay put in her room" he had added his voice lanced with a warning, he even pronounced her name right.

There was absolutely no friendliness in his tone.

"Where else would I go?" Cassandra said monotone and walked away, ignoring the way her heart ached.

Why should she care about what Fitzherbert thought? if anything she should be mad at him, the thief just ordered her to stay in her room and she has no choice but obey, because they happen to be the Princess's boyfriend and probably future husband.

Which indirectly made him her boss as well.

None of them were ever her friends.

She entered her room and opened her wardrobe, her eyes immediately focusing on her Handmaiden's dress.

Her lifelong prison.

Lifelong?

A sad smile crossed her face as she finally saw a way out her hell.

She picked out a short sword and brought the blade towards her chest with single flick of her wrist.

She was going to be free.

Just a quick stab to the heart, it wasn't going to hurt for long.

"Cassandra" a voice broke her train of thought, she turned and saw that Ghost girl from the House of Yesterday's tomorrow, looking at her with a saddened expression "there is no need to fall on such extreme measures, right now the Castle is mostly empty it would be so easy for you to disappear"

"Would it really matter? no matter how much I try, I always end up being stuck here as their servant...they are not going to let me go." Cassandra said back

"That was before, now you have me to watch your back, I am your friend remember?" the ghost pleaded with her, Cassandra wasn't convinced, but she had no other options and she had nothing else to lose by listening to a Ghost, so she put back her sword and grabbed a change of clothes.

It was a gray tunic with a hood and black pants, complete with heavy boots and a belt.

Cassandra was about to grab a weapon of hers then she froze, frowning at all of those weapons she had wasted time mastering in a vain attempt at impressing the Captain.

All of that training and she couldn't even touch Adira.

She closed her wardrobe shut.

Maybe she had never been meant to be a warrior.

She silently changed then took a piece of paper, quill and ink to her desk and started writing down

"I sincerely hope that isn't your suicide note" her -friend- said barely keeping annoyance out of her tone.

"No, it's the recipe for the antidote to the Memory wand spell" she explained

"and how do you know this is the correct recipe?" the ghost inquired noticing Cassandra had been writing it perfectly right

"Once I read something, I never forget about it" she answered, the friendly ghost let out an impressed hum

"and the King lets you waste your talent cleaning floors? Glad to know misogyny still reigns over Corona"

Cassandra ignored her, she might have agreed with her weeks ago, but now she knew why Corona hated her.

"Still why do you even bother? wouldn't it be more convenient for you if your Majesties didn't recover their memories?" the Ghost said

"Rapunzel will want to fix her parents first and I only listed the ingredients not the correct way to mix them, this will keep her busy" Cassandra said as she finished writing, then stepped inside the fireplace in her room and tapped a few bricks in sequence.

An entrance opened up and closed as she passed through, the Ghost followed her frowning as they emerged in the forests outside Corona

It was nighttime and a full Moon was shining brightly.

"You could have got out anytime you wanted" the Ghost pointed out, an unsaid question hanging in the air, which was left unanswered.

"Where do I go now?" Cassandra said looking at the Ghost for guidance, but at the same time a wolf with glowing red eyes presented itself in front of her, it snarled at her, out of reflex she tried to take out her sword, but she didn't have one, however the wolf fled and on its place the ghostly form of giant bipedal wolf appeared, it smiled at her before it changed to a sphere and flew into her chest.

The last thing Cassandra remembered was the Ghost girl terrified and pained yells as she dissolved in the air.

* * *

"Cass? Cass?!" Cassandra jumped to her feet ready to fight for her life

"Calm down, it's just me, there is no danger, we are home" she blinked and slowly relaxed seeing that she was in her room, confusion echoed on her face, as she noticed that she was in her night clothes, a white loose shirt and short brown pants.

"Cass? are you okay? is the Moonstone hurting you?" an hand touched her shoulder, she jerked away from it and saw Rapunzel looking at her with a concerned and hurt expression

"...just a dream" Cassandra said as she recollected herself

"Was it a bad dream? I am sorry I should have woke you up sooner but Eugene..." "what do you need?" she asked interrupting whatever the Princess was about to say

"I found your recipe, but even Varian can't put it together, do you remember how you made it?" Rapunzel asked hopeful, Cassandra crossed her arms

"of course I do" she said and braced herself as the Princess hugged her tight.

Fifteen minutes later Cassandra was dressed in the same clothes she had in her dream and following Rapunzel to the kitchen, where a frustrated Varian was trying to make the antidote as Lance and Eugene were trying to help him out.

She didn't even wonder what Varian was doing here instead of a dungeon

"Cassie! How did you mix this thing!?" Varian had asked her desperate, the moment he saw her, she ignored Eugene's glare on her

"You should have let her sleep, Blondie" he said his voice stained with anger

"Eugene, please she knows how to make this!" Rapunzel said back

"She could have been more specific about it" he said suspicious

"She had been asleep for a full day, she was exhausted!"

While the dream couple argued Cassandra guided Varian step by step on how to make the antidote then went back to her room as soon as she was done to wait for her inevitable punishment.

She didn't notice the blue wolf paw mark on the palm of her left hand.


	2. Consequences - First part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra faces the consequences of her actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to cut this one in half, I know if I kept going it would have got way too long.

Cassandra didn't bother to take a nap; she sat down on a chair and waited.

She was hoping to be thrown in the dungeons, so that she wouldn't have to clean the King's dirty laundry anymore.

Her gaze wandered around her room, a stab of disappointment hit her each time it came in contact with the paintings adoring it.

She really was delusional to think she could ever be a heroic knight or anything of the sort

Adira and Hector had wiped the floor with her without even trying.

She eyed her wardrobe full of razor sharp weapons as a nagging thought blossomed in her head.

A hoot distracted her, she rose up to open the window to Owl, who perched on his log, looking at her in worry.

Cassandra pet him as she made her way back to her seat and forced a small smile for him

"Don't worry, I am okay" the Owl wasn't convinced so he flew to her knee, his presence alone being enough to make her feel a bit better.

However soon she found herself standing before King Frederic and Queen Arianna, Varian was here with her even if she didn't know why, did their Majesties want to spare time and send them both to the dungeon at once?

Whatever feelings she might have she buried so deep she couldn't even feel them, she was becoming such an expert in doing just that in the last days.

Cassandra kept her face neutral despite the disapproving gaze of the Queen and the angry look on the King, Varian on the other hand was a nervous wreck.

"Cassandra, I trusted you with my daughter and this is how you repay my trust? By stealing the Moonstone for yourself?" The King's voice was dripping with rage, since she was going to the dungeons might as well go out with a bang

"I will not pretend I didn't act out of selfishness, but with all due respect your Majesty if I hadn't stole the Moonstone you wouldn't have a daughter anymore" Cassandra talked back, her voice steady, she heard the Queen gasp and Varian let out a little whelp, but she was too busy staring at the metaphorical beast right in the eyes to pay attention to anyone else.

"Excuse me!?" the command in the King's voice was loud and clear, he demanded an explanation

"A warrior of the Dark Kingdom named Adira informed us that she wasn't sure if the Princess's body would be able to handle the power of the Sundrop and Moonstone combined" Cassandra's words made the King's face morph into mute horror "When I took the Moonstone, I knew for certain that would be the case, if the Princess's destiny is to reunite those stones then her destiny is to die" she added her voice grave, her last word echoing in the Throne room.

"And what where you planning to do with the Moonstone?" The King asked after a moment of silence, his voice still furious

"I wasn't planning to ever come back to Corona if that's what your Majesty feared" That was the plan, but there was no escaping the clutches of the royal family, wasn't it?

They will never let her go.

"I see, can you make the Black rocks go away?" The King truly hoped at the least the whole journey hadn't been useless

"Since the Moonstone got absorbed into my body I haven't be able to use it" Cassandra let out the little detail that she hadn't been able to ever since Rapunzel stopped her.

"So this whole journey had been completely useless?!" she had been to enough court days to know that wasn't an happy King

"Now the Moonstone lays dormant into me, I don't believe any more Black Rocks will emerge" Cassandra wasn't sure about it, but she had a feeling this was the case, the King let out an heavy breath

"Very well since despite your selfishness you did try to stop the Saporian's threat and restored our lost memories, I won't have you brought to the Dungeons under the accuse treason" his voice had got calmer, an hint of disappointment passed Cassandra's face, it here for was an blink or miss it moment and only the Queen was observant enough to pick it up

"However you did betray my trust, acted mostly for your own gain and have hurt my daughter over a witch that abandoned you without a second thought" there was no hiding the poison dripping from his voice as he spoke of her mother, Cassandra couldn't fully repress the burning rage she felt, but the only indication of said rage was a slight frown on her face "while I do understand finding out that vile woman was your mother was a shock to you, that doesn't make it right to take it out on Rapunzel" he added with an accusing snarl "till you get your act together I have no choice but to demote you to a simple maid, you will not allowed free days, your weapon collection will be confiscated and your privilege to take out horses from the Royal stable revoked" he let his words sink in and frowned as Cassandra didn't even flinch, her whole expression blank, he turned towards Varian "Now to you young man" the boy visibly gulped

"While you have helped take over my kingdom, you also took out the Saporian threat and saved my daughter, so despite your past history I have decided to show you mercy" it didn't flew over Cassandra head how the monarch seemed convinced Varian had helped with the Saporian's threat, but stayed silent about it "You will shadow Cassandra in her maid duties for a month and share her room" the former handmaiden interrupted him "You want me to share a bed with the adolescent boy crushing on me?"

"W-what!?" the King sputtered as Varian's blushed a bright red and looked like a fish out of water, which did indeed confirm said crush

"A separate bed will be installed to the other end of your room, if Varian were to act improperly, it's in your right to report him and our mercy will be immediately revoked" the Queen intervened, this allowed the King to collect himself enough to continue "as I was saying you will shadow Cassandra in her maid duties for a month, you will be prohibited from practicing alchemy during such time, after ways you will be only allowed to practice it under supervision and in a controlled environment" Varian seemed upset about the situation "...but my dad, I just got him back" his voice was meek and fail

"Your Father will be allowed to visit you when you are not on your maid duties, but heed my warning young man, you have committed serious crimes and while this time I decided to show you mercy I will not give you another chance, one step out of the line and you will be punished to the full extent of the law for all of your crimes" The seriousness of the King tone made it clear he wasn't joking around

"You are both dismissed, you two can entertain yourself in the library while Cassandra's room is rendered suitable, your punishments start tomorrow” he declared, but before they could leave the Queen spoke up "Cassandra, I advise you to stay away from my daughter till your feelings are sorted out"

"Will I be punished if the Princess keeps clinging to me?" Cassandra really had no intention of ever seeking out Rapunzel, but she knew she was going to eventually seek her out

"I will talk to her about giving you space, but in the event Rapunzel does approach you, you must be to your best behaviour and not ask anything about Gothel, my daughter already suffered enough from that horrible woman without her own best friend twisting the knife" the Queen's voice was a far cry from her gentle and warm tone, she wondered if it was her true voice and if the one she was used to was just another deception.

"I understand your Majesty, is that all?" Cassandra politely answered back, despite screaming inside that it was her right to know more about her own mother, but since the only person that could tell her was the precious Princess Rapunzel she wasn't allowed such a simple courtesy.

"You may go" Arianna said.

* * *

Varian had waited for her so they both headed to the library, they didn't talk to each other since Cassandra wasn't in the mood for chatting and the Alchemist was too nervous and wary of her to speak.

Reached the library Cassandra started looking for a book, while Varian awkwardly sat himself at a table watching her with a blush, there was no one else but them.

"Cassie...I am sorry about your collection" he timidly started a conversation.

"Don’t be, I was going to throw it away" Cassandra had said so without hesitation as she scanned the bookshelf with a frown, the books were all out of order.

Did the Saporians scare off the librarian?

"Why? You love your weapons?!" Varian had been so surprised by her answer that the question left his mouth before he could stop it.

"Did I? Or did I just like the idea of impressing the Captain by showing off I could use them?" she didn't bother to lie with him, what was the harm in telling the truth? He did ask her.

"...did something happen with your father?" the boy picked up that something wasn't quite right

"That man is not my father" a tense silence fell into the room, Varian was too taken back to say anything else as she pulled out a book about hand to hand combat and started to read it, seating herself far away from him.

Varian observed Cassandra for a while before he followed her example by picking something to read, he didn't pick anything alchemy related cause he knew it would hurt to not be able to tinker with it for a whole month, so he settled for a fairytale book titled -Alisea and the Prince of Dreams-

It wasn't really his genre, but anything else might give him the urge to build or test something so it must do.

Okay first chapter and there is an old oak telling the girl which trees to cut and a hatchet complaining about said girl being too weak to wield it properly.

Yep this book had no chance to stimulate his brain whatsoever, he might as well read it to pass time and avoid staring at Cassandra like a creep.

The last thing he wanted to do was to irritate her, not when they were supposed to be near each other for a whole month.

A blind person would be able to tell there was something off about her, but he knew that pushing the subject would do more harm than good.

He kept reading at a slow pace, it was quite long so it would take him a while to read the full thing.

He had a full month to kill and he doubted he would find something less stimulating then this book.

Alisea had been talking to her little brother's lost shoes to find out where the evil wizard had taken them, when Lady Crowley interrupted his reading

"Crumb wedge your room is ready, you really pissed off the King this time, I doubt you will see those weapons of yours anytime soon, when will you learn to stay in your place? and cover up those silly hair and that hand tomorrow, you look ridiculous" Varian looked up from his book just as the old woman was giving him an hard glare "let me know if he gives you trouble" Cassandra simply closed the book she was reading and put back two others, she didn't even answer the head maid, she just rose up with the book in hand and walked away towards her room

Varian had noticed it was a different one then one he saw her pick up, following her example he took the book with him

"You know that's a novel for young girls?" the old maid pointed out, he blushed as if he had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar, but didn't stop walking, if he did he would lose sight of Cassandra and he had no idea where her room was.

* * *

When Cassandra did enter a room, Varian braced himself before entering, sure she had told him that she didn't care about her collection anymore, but he honestly thought she was just acting tough.

He had no idea of what to expect upon entering.

Cassandra was simply lying on her bed reading her book, as if nothing had happened.

Varian felt like he was approaching one of his unstable experiments, ready to explode at any moment, despite the fact Cassandra wasn't doing anything at all.

He didn't feel proud of thinking of her in this terms, but from what he had been told Cassandra had taken the Moonstone, betrayed Rapunzel and attacked them before she was stopped, Eugene had told him to be careful around her and he wouldn't say that if there wasn't some kind of danger.

He had been victim of bad rumours himself with the whole attacked the princess stuff, but Eugene wasn't Nigel, he wasn't going to lie to him, besides the King had been clear one misstep and he was back in the dungeons, if Cassandra was up to no good it was better for him to stay clear of her.

No, he wasn't going to ignore her, just be really careful around her.

"Varian" her voice made him jump a little "Y-yes?" Cassandra had put down her book and was looking straight at him "Why did the King think you helped in taking down the Saporians?" it had been bugging her for a while, but she didn't want to breach the subject in the library

"I-It was Rapunzel's idea to help my case, she said you wouldn't mind"

"Mhhh, I see" she simply resumed her reading.

Once again she got no credit for her work, what was even the point of getting mad about it anymore?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The general idea is that both Frederic and Arianna actually view Cass as some kind of surrogate daughter and still as a child over a grown up woman, and that's why their punishment for her is quite lame.  
> However the funny thing is they don't know how much they actually care about Cass themselvers XD  
> Also the whole thing of putting Varian in her room was more a punishment for her then for him, and by the way it was totaly Frederic's stupid idea.
> 
> Next part it's the Captain's turn to chew Cass out, while Varian suffers maid duty without alchemy to help him out.  
> It's praticaly the whole month after.


	3. Consequences - Second part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra finds her room move empty then it should be and remembers past episodes, while the Queen convinces Rapunzel to give Cassandra space and Varian struggles with maid duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Never ending story theme plays-
> 
> It's the never ending chapter! tu tu tuu tu tu
> 
> Yes I had to cut it again XD

The next morning before the sun was even out; Cassandra had rose up from her bed and went to her wardrobe.

She still hadn't looked into it, but she was taken back when she did.

There was no trace of any of her weapons.

No swords or axes

No daggers or maces

No bows or lances

No bolts or rapiers

Not even her wood carving set had been spared.

However this wasn't what surprised her as she knew they would take her weapons, but there was nothing left.

It was practically empty.

Her clothes were gone and all there was here was a few sets of the yellow uniform reserved to the palace maids.

There was a note plastered inside the wardrobe, it covered a large surface and was written in big letters.

She stared at it with a blank face for a moment then she quietly checked the drawers.

All empty.

Everything that hadn't been in plain sight was gone.

"This is all you will ever be, get used to it" she turned towards Varian's voice "That's not fair! The King just said to take your weapons"

"Good you are awake, get out of the room so I can change" Cassandra ignored him; she just wanted to get on with her day.

"Cassie! They stole your stuff, you should report this!"

"No, that's what they want and it will either just be a waste of time or make it worse" Varian noted she was talking from experience "and I am not going to try anything while I might drag you down with me" he was touched by the sentiment but still that was her stuff.

"I am sure the King or Rapunzel would do something"

"You heard the Queen; I have to stay away from the Princess and the King? well let's just say I already know how that's going to turn out" memories of a burned doll and a stern voice blaming her rushed to her mind "The Queen is quite pissed off at me and she always ignored me anyway, so I doubt she would help"

"But it's not fair! You should still try"

"Varian, bullies act worse the more of a reaction they get out of you, if I try as you say they push back harder or even double it down, it's best to stay put" several giggles behind her as her younger self was running herself ragged handing out fliers of a badly drawn orange cat "they will get their quick laugh out of this and stop, it's not like they have anything else of mine they can mess up with" she made a mental note to send Owl away for a while, just in case.

"So you’re just going to let them walk all over you?" he couldn't believe such words were coming from _Cassandra_ of all people

"Does it look like neither of us have another option at the moment? I know telling won't solve anything and we are both one step away from a dungeon cell or a noose" the unnatural calm with how she said all of this was baffling Varian, it was as if she was giving him instructions on how to assemble a chair.

Something was wrong.

Cassandra had never been this calm and collected.

"I have to change"

Varian went out the room his mind trying to find whatever puzzle piece was missing.

Cassandra absently wondered why she wasn't furious as she got ready and silently congratulated herself for hiding her coins so well.

She hid what she had been wearing just to be safe, last thing she wanted was to get stuck in her maid clothing even off duty.

* * *

"Crumb wedge I thought I told you to wear gloves" Lady Crowley frowned seeing Cassandra's pale blue hand

"I only have leather gloves, they would get ruined with the water" she didn't say a thing about the theft or gave any indication that she was mad or upset about it.

Such thing felt off to Varian, he may not have known her for long but whoever this person was, they weren't Cassandra.

He couldn't really say why, but while she was her, he could feel it wasn't her as if there was something crucial missing from Cassandra that just made it not Cassandra.

He just couldn't figure out what.

Yesterday she was off, but not this off.

What was he missing? "ALCHEMY BOY!"

The irritate voice of the old maid made him jump with a eep sound, making all the maids around him laugh while Cassandra just glanced at him, he noticed that now she was wearing gloves, the thin kind, they almost reached her elbows and matched the yellow colour of the uniform.

He held his head in pain. Lady Crowley had hit him with her broom.

"Alchemy Boy! Stop gawking at Crumb wedge and get to work as much as I know you will be a dead weigh to her, the least you can do is try to help!"

"Hey I am good with chores!" Varian felt the need to defend himself, as the time he helped Cassandra with her handmaiden work came to mind.

"And how good you are at it without your alchemy tricks? An half made scarecrow has more muscles then you, I bet by the end of the day Crumb wedge will have to carry you to bed" her words made his face fell "Honestly what was the King thinking? Having you as an helper is punishment on _**her**_ "

* * *

Varian hated to admit it but Lady Crowley was right, but to his credit Cassandra wasn't outright carrying him, she was just helping him stay upright by grabbing the back to his shirt.

"Did they dump all the chores on us as part of our punishment?" he had to ask, the amount of chores they had them do couldn't be a normal occurrence.

"Probably" It was actually her normal chore list, minus Princess's duty, but Cassandra let Varian think otherwise least he got himself in trouble.

He was right it was abnormaly large, and Cassandra had never complained about it cause wanted the Captain to see that she could handle it, she had thought it was a test, but now she knew it was a veiled punishment.

She was Gothel's daughter; of course her workload must be three times more than everyone else.

She didn't feel bitterness or anger as she thought of this.

Had she felt so much of it that she became numb? Did she develop an immunity as one could do with poison?

Cassandra didn't think much of it, she just found refuge into her next course of action, she wanted to find the cottage and if it was still standing, move here.

There was nothing mandating she was required to live in the Castle and with Mother's death, that cottage was hers, if she had a place to live why waste so much of her wage to keep the privilege of living in a place full of people that hated her guts? Something told her they would make up some excuse to stop her from leaving, but it was worth a shot and even if they did, they can't stop her from spending her free time at the cottage.

She highly doubted they would let her quit her maid job, not when it was so linked with her official punishment.

In truth she doubted they would ever lift said punishment off her.

However before she could start her search she had to endure this month with Varian.

This was a private matter.

* * *

"Why can't I meet up with Cassandra and Varian? They are free after work, not imprisoned and even if they were, prisoners can have visitors" Rapunzel was in the gardens, having breakfast with her parents and Eugene, she was visibly upset.

"Sunshine, it's for the best, Cassandra needs some space and Varian just happens to be stuck with her at the moment" Eugene tried to reason with her, his voice calm and controlled

"...but she needs me, I can tell she's upset, we have to talk and sort out this mess" the princess wasn't bulging

"Honey, Cassandra is extremely confused at the moment, you must let her find her balance before approaching her" Arianna intervened taking her daughter's hand in her own "she blames you over something you absolutely had no control over, Cassandra is irrational enough to think she's right and till she's in this mindset talking with her will only make things worse"

"So what should I do? Abandon her" Rapunzel was on the verge of tears

"No, just wait, give her space and let her come to you when she's in a better frame of mind"

"But she's my friend" she couldn't hold back the tears anymore; Arianna hugged her close and let her cry.

Frederic and Eugene shared a look.

It was all they needed to agree they will to do everything in their power to cheer up Rapunzel.

* * *

Sprawled on his temporary bed, Varian was for the lark of a better word utterly exhausted, he didn't think he was going to make it to the end of the month, but still the alternative was going back to the dungeons so he must make it.

He was just glad he had been paired with Cassandra as opposed to having to do all of those chores himself.

He did his best, but the older woman still did most of them without breaking a sweat and even fixing his clumsy messes, he was certain the other maids were laughing at his incompetence.

"What are you doing?" he found himself saying in disbelief as he saw Cassandra, back in her one set of casual clothing, doing push ups

"Training" he could see that, but did she have to flex her superior physical finesse right here? "Can’t you do it somewhere else?" he didn't want to be inappropriate and he couldn't really move

"What's the point of training at the Guard training grounds if you can't use weapons?"

"The King didn't say you couldn't, he just confiscated your weapons" he pointed out

"True, but you got to read between lines Kid, how do you think is going to look if I simply waltz here and start using swords?" a blank look answered back "It would seem to anyone watching as if I am defying the King by simply using a sword from his own guard, which in turn would lead to another talk and more restrictions" she said all of that never stopping the exercise

"But why didn't he just say so if that was the case?" now he was confused

"It's less of what he said and more about what everyone else would think, the King will be forced to act to appease the crowd, besides from now on I don't want to use any weapons"

"What? Why?" he couldn't believe his ears, Cassandra without a sword or any kind of sharp object, that's ridiculous!

"During our journey we meet a woman named Adira, she wiped the floor with me by just using her feet, you could say I was inspired" it wasn't exactly the truth, Cassandra mostly wanted to distance herself from everything she had learned in the vain attempt at impressing the Captain and the once fond memories of said Captain instructing her to use a sword for the first time.

Unarmed combat was the perfect compromise to keep her able of defending herself despite never touching a weapon again.

Adira was just the prime example of how effective unarmed combat could be in a fight even with armed opponents.

"Wait this is actually because you are mad at your father" Varian remembered what Cassandra had said just the day before about trying to impress her father by mastering all of those weapons.

"I told you that man is not my father" she shouldn't have let that slip yesterday Varian could tell everything to the Princess then she would have to suffer through a talk about her feelings.

Strange now she felt in control more than ever.

"...do you want to talk about it?" Varian had timidly offered her

"No"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Varian it's okay you tried.
> 
> Guess what's wrong with Cassandra. Hint it's the reason she's not going wolf.
> 
> Arianna's advice would be good if 1) Raps wasn't Cass only friend and 2) Cass didn't already get the wrong idea they had been keeping as maid as some sort of revenge aganist Gothel and the Captain as some kind of warden 3) -spoiler-
> 
> Fun fact the thing Cassandra said about bullies is actually what my brother told me to do about my bullies back in middle school.  
> It worked, I enjoyed my full last year bullies free.  
> Though I guess with the really bad ones it wouldn't be that easy.
> 
> Anyway next chapter Cap's turn of chewing out Cass, plus Varian and Quirin bonding.
> 
> I pray I don't have to cut it again and can go forward with the plot XD


	4. Consequences - Third part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two reunions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finaly it's done, even if I had to cut off a piece cause it flew better in the next chapter.
> 
> Damn, I have to quicken my pace if I want to make it :C

Quirin liked to think of himself as a patient rational man, but when the news of his underage son being punished without him present reached him, he may have lost his temper a little.

Especially when he also found out Varian was forced to share a room with a grown up woman.

Such thing was entirely inappropriate both to Varian and this Cassandra, as it was to make his young impressionable son share a cell with a Saporian terrorist.

Sure, Cassandra wasn't a terrorist, but from what he heard she had taken the Moonstone and survived.

He couldn't blame the young for being reckless and found himself really surprised she survived at all.

He didn't wish any ill will on her either, but he rather not have the thing that destroyed his birth place that close in proximity to Varian, who being way too curious for his own good might jump at the chance to mess up with it.

This won't do and it's the reason he's standing before the King and Queen right now.

"Quirin, my friend, what's bothering you?" King Frederic had welcomed him in his court, not noticing the sour mood of his friend.

"Your majesty if I may speak freely"

It was the start of a long talk.

* * *

Cassandra's maid duty started at around six in the morning.

She wasn't to assist the Royals at their meals as she was used to, but that didn't earn her a break for lunch, instead she was to wash the dishes and the list went on till five in the afternoon when she was to be done for the day or get a penalty for not completing her chores in time.

The absence of a lunch break was probably the only anomaly in her usual chore list, but it didn't bother her, she had got used on their Caravan adventure to eat less.

Given how much the boys were used to pig out and how much her warnings went over everyone's head, someone had to tighten the belt.

While she did use apples for practice, she had always eaten it after ways even if the fruit fell on the ground.

Varian on the other hand was visibly having trouble and his stomach kept making noises.

"We are in a kitchen and alone, go make yourself a sandwich, everyone else is busy with their lunch break" she didn't mean to sound harsh, but that's exactly how she sounded to Varian.

"What about you?"

"I am not hungry, I can wait"

"How can you not? You have done so much more than me"

"You are a growing boy, while I am a grown up woman" and she had been doing this job ever since she could remember, she didn't even need to think before her body moved to do the chores.

"Still I am not taking a break if you are not" he was a stubborn cookie, wasn't he? But Cassandra suspected from the quivering of his voice that there was more to it.

"Suit yourself, but if you do I won't mind" she dropped the matter, but let the offer on the table.

* * *

Cassandra and Varian had just finished their chores, the young boy was struggling to stay on his feet and looked as if he was about to pass out

"Tomorrow sit down and let me handle the chores" the older woman knew he was going to hurt himself if he attempted to assist her, so it was for the best he rested.

"I can't, I must keep going!" Varian didn't take such suggestion in a good way

"You are not used to manual labour and need to rest, remember I am not allowed free days so this is the only way you can catch your breath" she thought he was just trying to prove himself

"And what's going to happen to me if the King, or anyone else? just like you can't practice with swords I can't be seen slacking off, I don't want to go back here" Varian was on the verge of tears as he admitted his fears, Cassandra didn't need to ask at that point she knew his time in the dungeons hadn't been good to him and the King's threat of sending him back was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"Varian!" a deep voice interrupted anything she was going to say, she saw the young boy's face immediately light up at the sound

"DAD!" exhaustion completely forgotten Varian jumped into his father's arms, Quirin hugged his precious son tightly to his chest.

They hugged for a full minute, before they pulled away; Quirin lowered himself on one knee so that he could see eye to eye with Varian, his large hand resting on his son shoulder.

Cassandra knew this wasn't any of her business so she turned and started to walk away

"Wait! Cassandra, right? What I am about to say concerns you too" this stopped her in her tracks

"Son, I am sorry I didn't come sooner but when I heard of your punishment, I had to intervene"

"What do you mean?" Varian was curious by nature, but this time his question held a bit of fear

"I brought up my concerns to King Frederic regarding your housing" the boy flinched, Quirin squeezed his shoulder in a comforting matter "Queen Arianna agreed with me and the King approved of a new arrangement"

"What kind of arrangement?" now Varian was outright frightened, what if the King had decided to have him sent to the dungeons after he was done working with Cassandra?

"The King has graced us with a spare room, when you are not working you will stay with me, also the Queen conceded you with a free day on Friday" the fear was quickly replaced by joy

"REALLY?" he hugged his father's neck then pulled away uncertain "wait, what about the farmlands?"

"The farmlands have waited a year for me, they can wait another month for the both of us" Quirin didn't stop the smile on his face, at that point Varian busted crying and buried his face in his father's chest, who in turn hugged him close.

Cassandra looked at the perfect father and son moment completely impassible.

At some point Varian must have exhausted himself to sleep, Quirin picked him up then noticing she was still here he addressed her.

"I will be passing by your room later to take his stuff"

"I will probably be out for a walk" without Varian around, she was free to start her search "I will put all of his things in the small chest near the bed closest to the door, let me know if I happen to miss anything" that chest in particular had come with Varian, so all she had to do was dump in whatever he had left outside of it in this short time.

"Thank you" she was about to leave for the second time "wait Cassandra"

"Did the King say anything else?" he must have for what other reason would this man want to talk to her

"I just wanted to ask, how do you feel?" the question puzzled her, why would a total stranger even care about her? "I have seen with my own eyes what the Moonstone did to my King, I can't imagine how it must feel to have it in your body" oh right he was part of the Brotherhood; it's the Moonstone he wants to know about.

"I actually haven't been this calm in years" Cassandra saw no harm in telling him and there was a chance he could tell her something useful about what she's experiencing

"Calm?" Quirin questioning tone told her that she needed to elaborate

"I could still feel them a little at the start, but now they are gone" He frowned, thinking Cassandra had been turned crazy by the Moonstone's influence.

"Who's gone?" he probably thought she was hearing voices or something along these lines

"Anger, bitterness, sadness, all that used to bring me grief is gone, but I am not sure if it's Moonstone doing or I just stopped to care" Quirin gave her a long stare, and then his eyes settled into a look of pity.

Cassandra didn't understand why, she was fine.

She didn't even feel the need to prove herself anymore.

There was no pressure, no nightmares, no sense of impending doom.

All that was left was her simple goal of living in her Mother's cottage and the shadow of her desire to learn hand to hand combat.

Nothing else.

* * *

The next day it seemed Cassandra was due to her own reunion with her _father_ , she was just done with her maid duties of the day when she saw him, he was standing in the middle of her room and glaring at her, arms crossed and face stuck in deep scowl.

"Fitzherbert filled me in, he said he wanted to make sure I didn't get the watered down version of what you did" why wasn't she surprised? "You betrayed the Princess, you betrayed your country" he moved closer to her so that they were face to face, Cassandra didn't move an inch, if he wanted to air her dirty laundry then it was just fair she got to do the same.

"You didn't tell me about my Mother, you made me believe she was dead and because of you I will never have the chance to talk to her" if they had this conversation a few days before, Cassandra would have probably be too lost in her own anger to even attempt a civil conversation.

Wasn't it a beautiful thing to have a clear mind?

"Talk to her? That was a despicable woman, you were better off never knowing about her!" that wasn't up to him to decide

"She was still my Mother, It was in my rights to know her" he couldn't believe what he was hearing

"You are being unreasonable! That witch abandoned you!" why couldn't he make her see sense? They were arguing about Gothel of all people.

"She was going back for me, she left only because you arrived" Cassandra had to point that out; why else would Mother ever get near the cottage?

"I can't believe what you are saying, what did you want me to do let her run off with the Princess, do you even realize you would have been stuck in that tower with her if it weren't for me?!" The Captain was furious, his face growing redder the more this conversation continued, while didn't mean it his words hit Cassandra differently, was he trying to guilt trip her in agreeing with him?

"What I am saying is that she didn't abandon me, she just didn't get to me in time" she held firm in her assumptions.

"You can't really believe that old witch ever loved you!" She had said nothing about Mother loving her but then again she had to point out.

"I will never know for sure, because you lied to me"

"As your Father I did what was best for you!"

"You are not my **Father** "

The Captain looked horrified at his hand and the quickly reddening spot on the left side of his daughter's face; a small river of blood dripping from her newly cut lip.

Cassandra wasn't expecting to be hit, the force of the blow made her fly and hit her shoulder against the wall, she fell in a sitting position, her eyes never leaving him.

Her face expressing absolutely nothing.

"I never thought you would disappoint me so much" The Captain's face turned to stone, his tone severe and unflinching, despite the guilt he felt at striking his daughter.

"You have proven without any doubt to not be fit to join the Guard and I don't ever want to see you on the training grounds again" he left taking away her Guard armor with him, without giving her a second glance.

* * *

Cassandra felt an overwhelming rage for the first time in days, her eyes glowed blue, then her body felt on fire and blue alternated with red.

It was as if two opposing forces wanted to get hold of that rage for themselves even if it meant ripping her in half.

The feeling only lasted a few seconds.

Claw marks marked the wooden floor where her hands have been, the gloves Lady Crowley had given her shredded at the fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wolfie and Moonstone don't mix well :D  
> I tried to make an equivalent of the scene in "Islands apart" where when faced Cassandra, Cap just treated her like a soldier, but worse with Cap actually losing his head for a little bit before slipping into his role as Captain of the guard.
> 
> The general idea is that the Moonstone responded to Cass hopeless feelings in the first chapter by retracting inside her, from here it slowly blocked her emotions, however the Wolf kind of messed up with that allowing for Cass to still feel when faced with very strong emotions.


	5. An Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra goes shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is a bit short, but the next part is long enough to make up for it.  
> The story just flew better by cutting from this part.  
> Now next chapter you will all bask in the full glory of WereCass :)

The Captain couldn't believe he did that, he eyed his daughter's guard uniform; he couldn't bring himself to take it back to the Royal armory and make it available to another recruit.

No, instead it was here in his room, properly arranged on a stand, judging him for his actions.

He had only meant to suspend her till this whole mess with the Moonstone was sorted out, instead he not only lost his temper, he hit his own daughter so hard he split her lip and made her crash on the wall.

To make things worse instead of helping her to the Royal physician, he said those awful words and took her armor as if to add salt to the wound.

He can't believe **he hit her**.

How could he do that?

Cassandra was just confused and upset about finding out about Gothel, she didn't really mean what she was saying, what was his excuse to act the way he did?

He was the grown up man here! He was the Captain of the Guard, the one that would carry off to jail the slime of Earth that dared to lift a hand to their children and wives.

**He hit his daughter.**

How was he ever going to make up for that when he could still see droplets of her _blood_ on his glove?

"So Cap, how did she take it?" Eugene's voice took him out of his thoughts

"...I lost my temper" his remorseful eyes meet with his, his voice completely mortified and ashamed for his actions

"What did you do?"

* * *

"What was that?" Cassandra had asked herself looking at the ruined gloves on her hands, was it another side effect from the Moonstone? Whatever it was it stopped, her head was back to a clear state and all that remained from the episode was the ghost of her anger and a sore body.

Or so she thought.

She brought a hand to her chest, here it hurt more than anywhere else and it was tender to the touch.

Her hand came back dirtied with blood.

She closed her door before taking off her uniform and walking towards her mirror.

A big dark bruise was taking over the left side of her upper torso all the way to the shoulder and sneaking towards her arm, a part of her skin was cracked and bleeding.

She frowned as she noticed the worst of it was oval shaped and right where the Moonstone used to be.

This wasn't good, maybe she was better off without the Moonstone after all, however she couldn't exclude that this accident was a one time thing, for her safety she should look for a way to take off the Moonstone, but Cassandra didn't want to go through with it unless she absolutely had to.

She felt so much better now.

Mother knew the Sundrop, maybe she could find something in the cottage about the Moonstone.

Another good reason to find that place, but now Cassandra needed to patch herself up, clean her blood stained uniform and replace those gloves before anyone notice anything was wrong, because that was one way to get under watch and have her freedom revoked.

Maid duty was awful, but at least she could do whatever she pleased after she was done. well almost.

She knew just the right place to get what she needed.

It was a shop in the middle of the woods, the Singing Moonlight; it was situated about halfway between the Capital and the Snuggly Duckling.

It sold a bit of everything, and she could reach it by using the tunnels so she could go and get back without being seen.

It simply was the best way to get what she wanted without running into people, who might take in the wrong way the fact that she was free to go in and out the Castle or take note of the fact she was hurt, besides she could run into _them_.

She knew without any doubt _they_ would try to get her in trouble at the first chance they got.

 _They_ wouldn't be outside the Capital, so sneaking out was her best bet to archive her goals in peace.

The owner of the Singing Moonlight was a middle aged woman named Madeleine Madison, she used to run the shop with her husband Tobias, but ever since he passed away she had been alone.

However the important thing was that Mrs. Madison had never bothered her and had a reputation of selling anything to anyone given they had the gold, Cassandra knew that first hand when she brought her first knife from her when she was seven.

A Knife that she had religiously kept on her belt till it was destroyed when she took the Moonstone.

She remembered how Mrs. Madison's late husband had even helped her pick it up, but he had also made her swear to never take it off her person for long, because, as he put it, it was a very special knife.

A promise that Mrs. Madison had her double down.

Thinking about it Cassandra hoped Mrs. Madison wouldn't be mad that she lost it, the last thing she needed was someone else hating her.

* * *

"What happened to your face? and where is your Knife" the older woman with unbound red curls fading to gray had asked her as Cassandra brought, a medical kit, extra bandages, two sets of clothing, socks and two pairs of gloves identical to the ones she had ruined to the counter.

She didn't dare to buy anything else; she had no idea of how much she would need to repair her Mother's cottage.

"Destroyed in the Dark Kingdom" there was no going around it, Mrs. Madison frowned at her then snatched Cassandra's left hand, her eyes widening when they meet with the blue paw mark on her skin.

"It's just the Moonstone doing, my right hand is already blue as is my hair, it's probably just spreading" Cassandra told her what she had been suspecting when she first saw it, to ease her up, it wasn't everyday that you saw a person was turning blue.

"...right" Mrs. Madison then eyed what was she was buying and gave her a look over, noticing the spreading specks of red on her gray shirt, Madeleine frowned then she started dragging the younger woman to the back of her shop.

Cassandra found herself sitting on a stool as Mrs. Madison patched her up.

"If you need help and don't want to explain yourself to the Royals, just come to me I won't ask questions" it was good to know, but still there was the risk of Mrs. Madison telling anyone or forcing her into doing her bidding, so she kept that in mind as a last resort.

"And how much is it going to cost me?" Cassandra wasn't stupid, nobody did anything for nothing.

"I remember you brought a wood carving set a while back, are you any good with it?"

"It's been a while since I last used it" she had been too busy trying to impress the Captain to perfect the craft "and it was confiscated along with my weapons as part of my punishment" she wasn't sure about it, it could have been stolen for all she knew.

"You can borrow mine and show me now" that was a waste of time, it was more imperative than ever that she found Mother's cottage and she still needed to practice her hand to hand combat

"I don't have time for this, I have stuff to do"

"What kind of stuff? Aren’t you done with your duties for the day?" since when was Mrs. Madison so noisy? Today was the most they had ever talked

"What happened to not asking questions?"

"Touché, but who knows maybe I can help you and make your lost time worth it, trust me I am the last person that would go rattle anyone to the King, and I could already get you in trouble just for this" The older woman tightened the last bandage on her chest to drive in the point, making Cassandra flinch and glare at her, but she was right.

Besides what did she have to lose? Everyone already hated her.

"I am looking for Gothel's cottage" she wasn't expecting an answer

"Then we have a deal, show me how good your are at carving wood and I will draw you a map"

That went better than expected.

* * *

"Mhhh not bad, I am sure you could get so much better at this with my guide" Mrs. Madison had commented as she examined a crude wooden horse figure in her hands.

"Your guide?" Cassandra didn't like where this was going

"Don't you want to quit that lousy maid job? You can come live here, be my apprentice and I will turn you into a master wood carver, maybe in a few years you will even open your own shop" but it was never going to happen, even if she would take it over being a servant for the rest of her life.

"I am sorry, I have to refuse your offer" she hoped she wouldn't insist more and let her be, she had already lost so much time here.

"That's a shame, still if you need more of my help, you know my price" Mrs. Madison didn't seem offended, she just scribbled a quick map on a piece of paper and gave it to her

"Here, Gothel's cottage isn't too far away from here, just a half hour away"

"Thank you"

"So are you still going to buy that stuff on the counter?"

Cassandra ended up buying a new carving set and a travel backpack along with everything else.

* * *

Once alone Mrs. Madison sighed loudly, her face crumbling into sadness

"My poor girl, the wolf got to you too in the end" she looked at the door of her shop as if Cassandra was somehow still here "I shouldn't have let that Captain take you in, who knows what he had been doing to you in all of those years" her eyes glowed red and a growl escaped her lips.

"Tobias is right; your only place is with **us** "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did I make it oblivious on who Mrs. Madison really is?  
> Yes, that knife was important and Cass accidentaly screwed herself.
> 
> Little Easter egg, Singing Moonlight is the title of another wip WereCass fic of mine.  
> It involves not quite a werewolf Cass being raised by Ruthless Ruth, the Cassunzel server knows what I am talking about.


	6. Clash of Energies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cass reaches her mothers cottage.
> 
> Raps freaks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: EYE INJURY.
> 
> This chapter took more time, cause I realized I had to adjust the plot due to me realizing Raps avoiding Cass for a whole month was impossible.
> 
> Unfortunaly that meant I had to scrap a scene very dear to me, it involved Cass killing a shark...barehanded.  
> In her defense it was trying to eat her.

Eugene had gently coaxed the Captain to go back to Cassandra's room and apologize right away, plus he wanted to check up on her cause he knew firsthand how stubborn she was about getting help and her idea of first aid included slapping a dusty iron armor over her wounds.

He recalled how both him and Lance had to wrestle her to get her freshly burned hand into a proper bandage and the hassle to get her to see a doctor.

What was the Dragon Lady's deal with doctors anyway? One would think he had been trying to push her into an endless pit by the way she had reacted.

However when they arrived Cassandra wasn't in her room.

"She must have gone out for a walk, she does that when she's upset" Eugene had lost count of how many times Cassandra simply walked off in the middle of the night.

Sometimes he even swore she was still sleeping, but she never failed to come back before Rapunzel woke up and he had never dared to bring it up "She shouldn't be out for long, want to practice on that apology?" in truth Eugene felt guilty as well, maybe if he had let the Queen give the news then Cap wouldn't have got so mad and this mess wouldn't have happened.

Sure, he was still pissed with her, but he wasn't going to cross the line and actually harm her on purpose.

He just wanted the Captain to scold Cassandra, thinking that if it came from her father then she would actually realize how much she messed up and from here they could work on getting everything the way it was before.

His brilliant plan just had to blow up in his face.

Now the Captain was a guilty mess and the Dragon Lady was nowhere in sight.

"I still can't believe I hit her"

"You did what!?" it was very rare for princess Rapunzel to get mad and when she did she was terrifying, but Eugene had never seen her so mad and with an equally mad Queen Arianna that was even worse.

"Hey Sunshine, your Majesty what are you doing here?" he tried to diverge the conversation, but there was nothing he could do, once such fury had targeted you there was no escape.

* * *

It was night out when Cassandra exited the Singing Moonlight.

She wanted to check her Mother's cottage, but she had lost way too much time with Mrs. Madison and should hurry up to the Castle.

However it was late enough that she wouldn't make it for dinner even if she rushed back, so what was the harm in a quick visit?

It shouldn't be a problem as long as she turned up to do her duties tomorrow.

Not even ten minutes into her walk, there wasn't a road anymore, Cassandra might as well be walking in the woods, but still she followed Mrs. Madison's directions to the letter.

She didn't even need to take out the map that had been given to her; she had it memorized in under a minute.

_Hoot_

Owl flew down and landed on her shoulder

"Didn't I tell you to stay away for a while?" she frowned at him, but still gave him pets, she might not feel it at the moment, but she knew without any doubt that she loved him.

Maybe the Moonstone wasn't as great as she thought; sure she couldn't feel all of those negative emotions that constantly dragged her down, but what was the point on living if she was never going to feel love or happiness?

Still even without it she was irremediably stuck being a servant.

What should she do? Give up the Moonstone and let her darker side cut her life short, or keep it and survive till the last of her days?

Was it better to die painfully and quick, or slowly and painless?

_Hoot_

"You have never been so clingy before" Cassandra commented as Owl pushed his head against her cheek interrupting her thought process, then she stopped in her tracks

"We are here" the woods were too thick for her to see it, but she could hear the noise of the running river, she rushed forward moving aside the vegetation in her way and would have fell in said river if Owl didn't help her regain her balance by pulling back her shirt

"Thank you buddy, but I think I got to cross it anyway" the rope bridge wasn't here anymore but from the memory she had been shown at the House of Yesterday Tomorrow she knew it wasn't too deep to cross.

_Hoot Hoot_

"I know the current seems strong, but I can do it" the river was outright raging, but behind Cassandra's confidence there was a little problem.

She couldn't feel fear and as such she was just going to jump down in the water without worrying too much about it even if the current was likely going to drag her off.

Owl wouldn't allow it, so he just flew towards a half fallen tree while pulling on her shirt before she could do such stupid thing.

"Good idea" Cassandra understood what her friend wanted to tell her and pushed the tree.

It fell creating a makeshift bridge.

She crossed, Owl positioning himself on her shoulder again once she was on the other side, the owl was now fully aware his human friend wasn't being herself and that he needed to watch her closely to stop her from doing reckless things.

Leaving her alone in this state was a disaster waiting to happen.

* * *

"She missed dinner and no one has seen her in hours!" Rapunzel was pacing around her room, under the concerned glances of Pascal and Eugene.

"Sunshine calm down, the Dragon lady is just upset, you know she had a tendency to run off in the woods cool down, she will come back in the morning as she always does" Eugene tried to stay positive and calm down his upset girlfriend, even if a loud part of his brain was shouting at him that Cassandra probably ran off in the sunset with the Moonstone.

He couldn't foresee that his words would lead to the exact opposite and open a new can of worms along the way.

"What do you mean? Cass never ran off in the woods?" the Princess was on his face, hands on her hips, the former thief raised his hands in surrender

"She did, almost every night after the accident" he didn't need to specify which accident he was talking about "she just came back before you woke up so you didn't notice, but I did only because she had to get out from our door"

"But why would she do that?" how could she miss such thing? How much grief she could have avoided them both if she just paid more attention to her best friend?

"I don't know how ice demons think, maybe she just wanted to train with her shiny knifes?" he tried to guess, but that was a question only Cassandra could answer

"But she doesn't even have her...wait Cassandra is in the woods completely disarmed at this hour?! We must send out a rescue team!" Rapunzel was running towards the Captain's office before Eugene could do anything about it but try to keep up with her.

* * *

The Cottage looked quite damaged from the outside, the walls were cracked, windows were broken, the watermill must have got dragged away from the river and the roof had holes all over it.

Maybe the inside was better?

Cassandra pushed the door open, the rusty hinges outright screamed in agony and ended up snapping making the door fall down on the left side with a loud thump.

No, the inside was mess, next to nothing was salvageable, everything was just a big mess, but her eyes locked on the broken music box on the ground, she went down to one knee and took off the backpack on her shoulders.

She put all the pieces she could find in it, cleaning them off to the best to her ability from the cobwebs and dust.

Owl flew to a turned over chair and observed her as she moved through the Cottage, carefully examining each idem she came across.

"You know, now that I am here, I am starting to remember her" she paused to look at a doll in a green dress, it was near a big shattered mirror that had been thrown on the ground "She would leave me alone most of the time, but she always cared enough to bring me toys and have me clothed" Owl narrowed his eyes, his feathers ruffling up as he could sense danger "She would hug me when she came back, we used to cook together and she would read me stories to make me fall asleep"

Cassandra squeezed the doll as rage and bitterness suddenly filled her up "The Captain never did any of that, he just left me to Lady Crowley and told me to earn my keep" a feral growl escaped her lips, her eyes kept flashing between red and blue, visible crackling of energy came out of her chest "He was never my father, just a puppet put here by the King to keep me in check!" everything went white for a moment as an explosion made the Cottage shake, the mirror exploded shards flying everywhere and cutting her skin, a particular big one pierced her left eye.

Her face was stuck in a mute scream, smoke coming out her mouth and nose, her body still spasming as she fell on her back.

The smell of cooked flesh filled the air.

Owl descended to fuss over her, but got no concrete response from her twitching body, he was quick to react, his beak picked up the paper on Cassandra's belt and he flew off towards the Castle.

He had been too concerned about his human to notice some of the energy had bottled up in a sphere in midair.

The sphere expanded and a flash later a woman with heavy curled black hair in a red dress was standing here.

Her dark green eyes were looking at the twitching body on the ground with a slight frown on her face.

"You sure got yourself into a big mess, little pest" she knelt down Cassandra's side and put her hands over the unconscious woman's chest "but don't worry Mother dearest is here" then she started to sing, her eyes closing in concentration as she moved her hand in a circular motion.

_Crescent high above_

_Evolving as you go_

Cassandra's body glowed in a blue light

_Raise what lies beneath_

_And let the darkness grow_

It concentrated into the upper left of her chest

_Bend it to my will_

_Consume the sunlight’s glow_

Her blue hair faded back to her original colour as the Opal started to emerge from her chest, while her right hand didn't revert to charred black, it settled on being a patch of angry red scarred tissue.

_Rise into the sky_

_And let the darkness grow_

_Let darkness grow._

The Moonstone was now hovering in the air, completely free from its host.

"If only that worked with that ungrateful brat" the Mysterious woman moved the opal to the other side of the room, it safely hovered between her hands never touching her.

However while she was giving her back to Cassandra, the woman saw a growing shadow fall over her and heard the sound of ripping fabric.

"I see that's what was clashing with the Moonstone" she turned and scanned up and down the creature that seemly appeared before her.

It was something between a human and wolf, it towered over her reaching all the way to the roof, covered in dark brown fur with gray streaks, a single wide open glowing red eye hungrily staring at the only other living being in the room, its sharp teeth glistering in saliva.

A big glass shard stuck deeply into its left eye, and the left side of its chest area was a collection of blisters, cracked skin and burns creeping all the way to its bicep.

An oval shaped deep hole standing out from that awful mess.

Its right hand was devoid of fur giving full view to the long thin fingers and the razor sharp claws adorning them.

"You took after your father" the woman pointed out with a genuine smile, completely untouched by the living terror before her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks who is back...:)  
> I am not tagging her to avoid spoilering new people.
> 
> Werewolf Cass is pure nightmare fuel and there is a reason she's way bigger then Catalina's wolf, which ties in as on why the wolf spirit didn't even ask before merging with her.
> 
> In a second time I will probably go back and add some scenes I realized were needed, like Eugene talking to Varian and Cap, without them there is an entire subplot almost completely implied.  
> I am also considering making a oneshot of the episode Eugene briefly recalled at the start of this chapter.


	7. Aid and Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassandra is denied a Gothel Mc Bacon.
> 
> Owl takes matters in his own talons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is short, but you will get another one bethween tonight and tomorrow.
> 
> The next chapters scenes just didn't flow well together with this one.

A heated discussion was taking place in the Throne room.

"She's in the woods, unarmed and alone, we must send out a search party before something bad happens to her" Rapunzel had been trying and failing to convince her father to allow for such thing for a good half hour

"Rapunzel, Cassandra is not a prisoner in this Castle, I can't send out the guards after her because she missed dinner in the Great hall" Frederic repeated once again, before his stern eyes turned to his Captain of the Guards "which given what happened I can totally understand why she would want to have dinner elsewhere" said Captain looked at his feet in shame

"Your Majesty, I have no excuses, I lost my head" he deeply bowed "I will totally understand if you want to remove me from my post"

"I will not come to that, my friend, but still a punishment is in order" whatever the King was about to say was interrupted by Owl rushing to Rapunzel with a piece of paper in his beak.

"Owl? What's this?" the princess had taken the paper in her hand, it was a crude map but she had no idea of where, however what caught her attention was the traces of blood on it “Did something happen to Cassandra!?"

**HOOT HOOT HOOT**

Owl was pulling Rapunzel's dress with his talons and loudly hooting at the same time, the usually stoic bird was outright panicking and that spoke volumes on what kind of mess Cassandra must have got herself in.

The Captain peaked at the map in the Princess's hands and paled, outright freezing on the spot

Why did Cassandra go here?

"I told you she was in danger! Owl bring us to her" Rapunzel was about to follow the owl, but she was blocked, the Captain had grabbed her arm

"It's better if you stay here Princess, let the Royal Guard deal with it" he gave a grave look to the King, who immediately understood

"Let me go! You are the last person I trust with Cass right now!"

"Rapunzel" Frederic scolded his daughter "This is a matter of the guard you have to stay here" plans to sneak out were already forming in her head "and to make sure of it will stay with me and your mother"

"Dad Cassandra needs me! I can't stay here" Rapunzel's protests fell on deaf ears despite Owl hooting in her favour.

"Please your majesty, allow me to join the search" Eugene meekly requested, hoping to make up for his mess by bringing Cassandra home.

"Yes you may"

* * *

Gothel snapped out her journey on memory lane and noticed Cassandra was looking at her like one would do with a perfectly cooked steak.

"Cassandra, don't look at me like that" the woman scolded the Beast hands on her hips as she got closer, a disapproving frown fixed on her face "I am your Mother not food"

Cassandra went down to four paws, her height still a good head or two over Gothel; she snarled in response her jaws snapping in her direction as she came closer.

"You completely lost your mind" Gothel stepped back "Last warning Cassandra, snap out of it!" she still had a bit of control over the Moonstone from saying the incantation and wouldn't hesitate to use it to save her own skin, even if it meant she would be harming her own daughter instead.

However it did give Cassandra the luxury of being warned before she did.

The Werewolf leaped at her jaws open wide and ready to consume her meal, but they never got the chance to bite down into juicy meat.

A solid blunt black rock pillar shot out the stone pavement and collided into Cassandra's chest with a sickening cracking sound; it went all the way through the roof with such speed and force that she was sent flying head first all the way into the river, its waters too shallow to stop her from hitting the bottom.

The current was dragging the Werewolf away, it didn't matter how much she trashed in the water her paws kept slipping into the mud and she couldn't stand up.

Gothel had gone out the cottage and watched with a bare hint of remorse in her face, knowing she most likely just killed her own blood, their daughter, his daughter.

Cassandra was going to drown and as her Mother she was just watching it happen

"I warned you" Gothel had told herself trying to appease her growing guilt as she couldn't see her daughter anymore.

Still werewolves were quite tough to kill, so maybe Cassandra just washed up at sea.

The moment was gone and she turned to go back to the Cottage

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER WITCH?"

Gothel was eating dirt before she could even register what was happening.

* * *

The Captain couldn't help it, the moment he saw that witch alive and standing here, where his daughter was supposed to be he lost it, he practically flung himself off his horse and over the raging river to tackle her on the ground; fate wanted that the witch just happened to have turned her back on him.

He pretty much was drowning her face in the dirty soil all while yelling on top of his lungs, he didn't even notice Gothel had passed out from lack of oxygen till Pete and Stan dragged him off of her.

"LET ME GO! SHE MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO MY LITTLE GIRL! I KNOW IT!" he tried to get himself free from them

"S-Sir! We can't kill unarmed criminals!" Pete stammered out gritting his teeth as he tried to hold back his captain, meanwhile Eugene stepped in the Cottage hoping to find Cassandra simply tied up in a corner, he already had a few jokes to tease her about the situation, but what he saw inside made his blood run cold.

Burn marks, blood and a hovering Moonstone.

Gothel somehow back from the dead.

Cassandra was nowhere to be seen.

Eugene couldn't help but jump to the worst case scenario.

The only scenario that made a lick of sense.

Gothel must have been a ghost, like Zhan Tiri's apprentices, probably trapped in this place so when Cassandra entered she must have seized the opportunity to get the Moonstone for herself and her body back.

There was so much blood.

Cassandra couldn't have survived.

Maybe she had been reduced to ashes.

The only person that knew for sure what happened was that despicable woman outside.

* * *

Meanwhile claws finally found solid ground to latch on, the Werewolf used the last of her strength to pull herself out of the river and walked a few steps forward on her four paws before collapsing on the ground, reverting back to her human form before she even hit it.

A blanket was carefully warped over her shivering form and a cloaked figure picked her up like a child with unnatural ease.

* * *

Owl watched with irritation as they all got busy figuring out the best way to drag that unconscious woman and collect that cursed stone back to the Castle.

The only one that attempted to still find his human was Max, by trying to track her down but he couldn't find her scent.

He knew that he needed the Princess to come along, she wouldn't have stopped till she found her.

She was the only one he trusted with his human, the only one that ever made her smile.

Sure, they argued as of late, but he knew it wouldn't last and if it did, then he would stick to his human anyway.

He didn't know if his human had really been killed by that woman, but he shouldn't have left her alone and defenceless.

Owl had noticed there were marks on the river that weren't here before and his human had tried to stupidly jump in here earlier, besides the woman was looking at the river for seemly no reason.

In conclusion his human was either pushed or jumped in the river, which would also explain why Max couldn't find her scent.

He flew off to continue the search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who took Cass :)  
> There is an alternate scene with Gothel on my tumblr...but Cass trying to eat that seasoned meat just made more sense.
> 
> No Gothel doesn't have Moon Powers, she just had them for a little bit.


	8. A Hopeless Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gothel has a chat with Royalty.
> 
> Rapunzel is miserable.
> 
> Cassandra is reunited with an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here as promised.

"We don't know how to safety move the Moonstone, so make a perimeter around the house and stand guard, we can't let that artifact fall in wrong hands!" the Captain barked his orders

"Captain what do we do about Cassandra? She’s still m-missing" Pete voiced his concerns; most guards had already assumed she died when the Moonstone had been removed, but he wasn't among them and he wasn't the only one.

"We can't stop looking" Stan piped in, also unwilling to lose hope or give up on the little rascal he saw grow up.

"Gothel is a top threat to the Kingdom, as the Captain of the Guard I have to personally escort her to the dungeons and question her on the matter" saying this words felt like pulling his own teeth, but his duty always came first "Ryder!" the former thief had been silently mourning sitting on Max's saddle, the horse himself looking grim and defeated

"I want you to keep the search going; Stan and Pete are with you, I will send you reinforcements"

"Sir, Cassandra is..." he had tried to protest "Someone must look for her and right now I can't be that someone, did you come with us to watch us work?"

"...No, Sir but Cass" "I don't want to hear it Ryder, for once in your life do as you are told, do you want to go back to the Princess and tell her you had a look then left, or do you want to tell her you did all you could to bring Cassandra back home?!"

Eugene knew his answer so even if he felt it was hopeless to keep looking; he did, even if it made him die inside knowing they would find a corpse at best.

A part of him hoped they would find nothing to spare himself the sight.

* * *

Gothel woke up from icy water thrown to her face, her nose burned as she started sneezing and sputtering.

"Talk Witch what have you done to Cassandra?" the angry voice brought her back to reality, she regained her composure and plastered a cocky smile on her face, despite the inner panic she was feeling.

She was tied up in a chair, in the Throne room of Corona's castle.

The King and the Queen were glaring at her from their thrones, and their Captain of the guard was doing the same in very close proximity.

There was no one else save for what she supposed was the King's royal advisor.

"My, My what a marvellous welcome back party" Gothel had said clearly flattered they went all out just for her, wasn't it easier to shove her fear away and let fake bravado take over?

"Stop blabbering and answer the question!" The Captain's face was going red with rage

"You are going to bust a vein if you keep that up" in response the man gripped her by the collar of her dress, the tip of a sword poking her neck in one fast motion.

"Captain! Enough! Lose your temper again and I will have you removed" The King severe voice and threat made him back away "Now, Gothel, tell me what you did to Cassandra and I will consider letting you rot in a decent prison cell over having you burned at the stake"

"Why are you all so concerned about my daughter?" Gothel didn't understand

"My Daughter" the Captain growled out, making her frown

"Excuse me?" what did you just say?

"I am her father! I took her in after you ditched her like a used toy!"

"Ditched her? You kidnapped her! By all accounts you should have done your job and took her to her grandparents!" Gothel was outraged, how dare this stranger just take her daughter and keep her away from her real family.

"You are the last person that should talk about kidnappings" the Queen hurt voice resonated in the throne room and Gothel did feel a bit of a fool, but still

"And what should I have done your Majesty? Let myself crumble to dust and leave my daughter to starve in the woods? What’s his excuse?" she drew a pointed look to the enraged Captain

"You took mine and locked her up in a tower for eighteen years! Nothing about what you did was for anyone but yourself!" Gothel rolled her eyes at the Queen

"Did the part about me crumbling to dust evade your brain, your Majesty? Or is it your life so precious that it outweighs mine? That flower was mine"

"Had you shared the Sundrop we would have worked something out and I would have gladly welcomed both you and Cassandra in my court" the King accused her

"Ugh and deal with all of those stuck up nobles for the rest of my life? Besides there wouldn't have been a single petal left if I made a habit of sharing it and the Moonstone would have long destroyed Corona before you were even born"

"ENOUGH!" the Captain had shouted out when Frederic was about to keep this blame game going on "this is about Cassandra, not the Princess, we are losing precious time"

"My apologizes" the King looked ashamed "What have you done to Cassandra?"

"The Moonstone was killing her, the left over energy allowed me to get back, I removed the Moonstone, she attacked me so I accidentally pushed her in the river, then Mr Macho here knocked me out and I am here in your pleasant company" Gothel decided to make a quick summary and to leave out the Werewolf, if her daughter survived it was best if that was kept a secret.

Plus Cassandra might end up eating some of those detestable people.

Gothel really hoped one of those was the Captain, even if by the terrified look on his face she almost felt sorry for him.

"Lock the witch in a private cell away from the other prisoners, words that she's back mustn't get out of this room" the King sentenced her and Gothel couldn't say she was surprised.

* * *

Three days later despite the growing certainty that Cassandra had drowned the search didn't stop, the number guards deployed to look for her reminded the citizens of when the Princess had gone missing.

Most were asking between themselves, why so much trouble for a servant? Maybe it was because the Princess favoured her, but didn't Cassandra betray her?

Rumours started to circulate, each take more outrageous then the other.

The most popular one was that Cassandra was actually the Princess's secret lover and Eugene was just a front to keep the scandal a secret.

It didn't help how Rapunzel took the news, if anything they made the rumours worse.

Rapunzel had been locked in her room, she was locked in a tower, Eugene was gone and Cassandra was missing.

Her only comfort was Pascal

It was all made worse by what she heard from the Guards at her door

"The Captain is wasting our time, you have seen how the river was that night, if she fell here then she surely drowned"

"We don't know if she fell for sure, you have seen the blood and the ripped clothes, I say she was attacked by bandits, she would be lucky if they just killed her"

At that Rapunzel had opened her door and glared at them both, they apologized and stayed silent.

However their words have weighted on her mind, she couldn't sleep without having horrible nightmares about Cassandra being attacked and killed.

Rapunzel was too worried to eat, it didn't matter how much her parents tried to convince her to take a bite, the image in her mind of Cassandra's dead body had erased her hunger.

She couldn't paint and she didn't even feel like getting up, so she just stayed curled in bed, not sleeping a wink, but crying silent tears.

Even if Eugene visited her now it wouldn't change anything till she saw Cassandra alive.

* * *

Cassandra groaned, her head felt like splitting up in two and the mere act of breathing was painful, she sat up gritting her teeth, her arms hugging her stomach area as if to ease the pain in her ribs.

All she could see was trees, the morning light forcing her to close her eyes.

Wait there was something all over her face, blocking her left eye.

What happened after she left the Singing Moonlight? Did she even buy the gloves?

Agh, her head was killing her.

A soft purr and the feeling of something rubbing on her leg caught her attention; there was an all too familiar orange cat with a white underbelly complete with a faded green collar.

"Kit?" she picked him up and brought him up close with to check if he was real, she got rewarded with a lick on tip of her nose and a purr.

Cassandra was stunned, still not believing what she was seeing, she let the cat down on her lap, he purred and meowed that's when she noticed there was a note in his collar

"I am sorry I kept him for so long, love, your Grandfather" she read out loud

"...Grandfather?" she repeated slowly, if it weren't for the pain she would have thought she was dreaming.

HOOT HOOT

"Owl?" Cassandra reflexively held out her right forearm for her friend to peach on, which he did, he was really happy to see her and kept moving on her arm, much to her amusement,, but still the gap in her memory was troubling her "Do you know what happened yesterday?" wait, yesterday? Her maid duties! Ugh the King was going to have her wash the latrines for months.

She jumped on her feet with a hiss of pain and started walking, Owl steadying her when needed much like he had done before while Kit diligently followed her.

Cassandra was so out of it she didn't notice she wasn't wearing her own clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get the wrong idea Cass is wearing her Grandpa's spare clothing and nothing happened.
> 
> Cass took so many hits to her head and praticaly got unwanted shock therapy, it makes sense for her to not remember much.


	9. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel sneaks out.
> 
> Cassandra is having a meltdown and is attacked by a mysterious figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I was caught in a dilemma.
> 
> Well as you can see I wasn't able to finish this story before the end of October, but the challenge actually helped me a lot anyway so I will consider it progress and a step in the right direction.

Rapunzel wasn't going to stay a single minute wasting time in her room; she wanted to look for Cassandra.

She must find her.

Her parents didn't want to let her go and Eugene was out looking for Cass, so this time she could count only on herself and Pascal to sneak out.

She waited till after her Mom checked on her for breakfast; she tried her best to eat a little to appease her even if she didn't feel hungry despite not eating in three days.

How could she after hearing those things that could have happened to Cass?

She refused to believe Cass had died, but that didn't stop the nightmares and the longer she stayed here doing nothing the more she felt as if she was letting Cass die for real.

Rapunzel just couldn't stay idle.

This time there weren't bars on her window and her parents seemed confident that without outside help she wasn't going to be able to sneak out.

They shouldn't have underestimated her.

Cassandra wouldn't have, besides they forgot she wasn't alone.

Ever since Rapunzel had overheard those horrible rumors, she set out Pascal to scout for the guards’ routes.

Now Pascal might not be as time efficient as Owl, but he can easily sneak around without anyone noticing him and he didn't need to scout the whole castle, just a specific section.

Rapunzel was already prepared for any emergency, she wore the cloak she had borrowed from Cass and never returned.

The paint and other frivolous things that were in her handbag were replaced with medical supplies and a lunch box, just in case Cass had hurt herself or was simply hungry.

The frying pan on her hip was here just in case.

The coast was clear and in no time she was outside the Island and into the woods of the mainland.

It had been easier than expected as most guards were busy searching the woods and none ever bothered to learn of the secret passages.

* * *

"Dear, is it fair to keep Rapunzel in her room?" Arianna questioned her husband decision, it didn't just feel right "You know she wants to go look for Cassandra, she's been making herself sick with worry"

"Arianna as much as I want to keep Captain Scudo's hope alive by allowing him full reign in this search, you and I both know it's impossible she survived the river" Frederic frowned "that witch killed her own daughter" the words were spoken in blind anger

"...Cassandra might be alive" Arianna felt a familiar pain at the thought of the little girl that used to roam in corridors being dead and she was sure Frederic was feeling it too.

Neither wanted to address it.

They didn't want find out what it meant.

"...I know, but our daughter suffered so much, do you want to risk her stumbling upon her friend corpse on top of it?"

"...of course not..." then Arianna addressed the elephant in the room "what are we going to do about the Moonstone?"

"We will hide it, there is no point in saving Corona if Rapunzel dies" the King let out a long sigh "We don't have another heir and we are weak from the Saporian takeover, another crisis and Corona will fall" Excuses, on top of excuses

"And we can't let anything happen to our girl" his wife voiced the truth.

It might be selfish to leave the world in danger to save their daughter, but they were just human and they suffered too much when their child was taken from them.

Rapunzel's fate was to reunite those stones and die, but they were her parents and if they needed to go against fate to save their daughter, then it was a declaration of war.

They would rather die than lose Rapunzel twice.

They should have known Rapunzel had already sneaked out the Castle and there was nothing they could have done to stop her.

* * *

"CASS!" Rapunzel called out for her best friend as she slowly moved in the woods, she had checked the Lost lagoon and the ruins of her tower just in case Cassandra had decided to go here, but there wasn't a trace of her, if only she had a clue on where Cassandra was last seen then maybe she would have a chance at finding her.

...Should she check around all the rivers? Or beaches?

However as this thought entered her mind, another emerged.

The Search teams had this information and yet they couldn't find her, could it be Cassandra was entirely into another place?

No guard had found her and she was shouting in the woods for quite some time, which could only mean they were all searching in the specifics spots and not branching out.

Those Guards words echoed in her mind.

They were all assuming Cassandra was dead.

They were looking for a body, not a person.

"Pascal, we need to go towards the mountains" the chameleon made a questioning noise "Cass would have come back if she was able and the Guard would have already found her if she was hurt, this means someone took her" she pointed to the mountains "if I were a kidnapper and I knew the Royal Guard was watching the rivers and the beaches, I would go in the exact opposite direction" Pascal let out an cheerful sound.

* * *

Cassandra kept walking even if each step was torturous for her, what had happened to her? How did she get so hurt? Why did she feel so weak?

She quickly abandoned her idea of going to the Castle, how was she going to do her chores in this condition? She could barely walk and she definitely wasn't going to arrive here in time.

They were going to assume she ran off with the Moonstone and send a squadron of guards to drag her back in chains; they were going to be lead by her father...

No, he's not her father.

The Captain.

She stopped in her tracks, absently brushing her split lip.

Fear, where is this fear coming from? She shouldn't feel, yet she was trembling, she looked at her hands as if that would answer her question.

And it did.

She dropped on the ground in shook, staring at her right hand as if it had committed an awful crime, then she checked her hair.

It was back to its original colour, just like her hand wasn't a pale shade of blue anymore.

"The M-moonstone?" she had asked to the air, panic rising into her as she noticed the clothes she was wearing weren't her own, they were too big to be hers, why was she covered in bandages? Why most were situated where the Moonstone was supposed to be?

Owl noticed his human distress and tried to calm her down with gentle hoots, Kit jumped in her lap and purred but they both might as well be invisible.

Cassandra started to hyperventilate as she realized she didn't have the Moonstone anymore.

Someone must have taken it.

She wanted to prove everyone that she was something, but she failed before she even started.

Rapunzel had dragged her back to Corona.

Cassandra didn't even have the chance to get out of her shadow; she had been yanked back into her place in the dark.

Now she lost the Moonstone and she couldn't even remember how or when.

The Moonstone could have fallen in the wrong hands, what if Saporian separatist had it? They could be laying siege to Corona right now and it would all be her fault, because she was arrogant enough to believe wielding the opal was her destiny.

Selfish enough to put her own needs above everyone else’s.

What did she do?

**_You betrayed the Princess, you betrayed your country_ **

**_A girl doing a soldier job?_ **

**_Just stay in your place, crumb wedge._ **

**_As if there would ever let a stray like into the Royal Guard_ **

**_I never thought you would disappoint me so much_ **

**_You should have let her sleep, Blondie_ **

**_This is all you will ever be, get used to it_ **

**_You have proven without any doubt to not be fit to join the guard_ **

She failed, she failed, she failed.

They were right. They were all right.

She was nothing.

She couldn't breathe.

Kit stepped away and waited as if he knew what was about to happen, while Owl kept flying around Cassandra, occasionally bumping into her to get her attention, hooting in distress, he only got the clue to move away when he noticed his human was growing claws, his big yellow eyes watched in horror as Cassandra's form twisted and grew in size, the bandages broke off, all except for the ones on her face, but something peculiar happened to the mysterious oversized clothing she was wearing.

It didn't rip; instead it was as if it was being absorbed beneath the skin.

In no time a cross between a wolf and a human stood here on its four paws, heavily breathing and shaking.

Moments later a loud distressed howl ran all over the woods causing all of its inhabitants to flee out of terror.

Owl didn't know what to do, what had happened to his human?

She seemed as confused as he was, she was staring at her new body in disbelief, she tried to talk but only animalistic sounds came out her throat.

She whimpered and looked at Owl; the bird of prey stared at the familiar dark green eye and knew that his human was still in here.

Owl let out a hoot of as if to say he had no idea what happened but he didn't care if she turned into some kind of monster.

Cassandra was glad to hear that.

Unnoticed by the duo Kit let out a confused meow pointing with his gaze at a spot in the woods, where a middle aged man suddenly emerged swinging a long silver chain with gloved hands.

His hair and beard were gray with some specks of brown; he was wearing travel clothes and carrying a big backpack over his shoulders.

The chain flew like a lasso around Cassandra's neck, a loud pained howl make its way out of her throat as she tried to get free, but couldn't, strength was rapidly failing her and she didn't know why.

"Calm down! I am trying to help her!" the man had said as Owl immediately tried to take out his eyes, he ended up hitting Owl with a strong swing on his arm as talons cut up his face, the bird ended up hitting a tree and stopped moving.

"OWL!"

Cassandra saw red, she jumped at him not noticing she had changed back to human, the man clearly didn't anticipate the action, but it didn't matter he was way too and well built for Cassandra to knock down in her weakened state, all it accomplished was giving the opportunity for the man to wrap her up with chain and pin her down by sitting on her chest, she wanted to scream, instead she coughed out blood.

Now he didn't even have to hold the chain to keep her immobilized, he took out a syringe full of a silvery liquid and swiftly injected her in the neck

"It will take a few minutes to take effect and it won't be fun without this" he pulled out a waterskin, which she assumed held anything but water, she tried to held her mouth shut but he easily pried it open

"Settle down pup, I know it tastes like piss, but it's for your own good" those were his words as he forced her to drink the whole thing, one hand was holding the waterskin's nuzzle firmly into her mouth in a way that was also prevented Cassandra from spitting it out and he had an hand on her nose so that she would be forced to swallow, whatever it was it tasted terrible and had the texture of bile, maybe actual piss would be tastier, and she wanted nothing more than to spit it out.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She was totally helpless.

Her skin was getting a pale blue and she was on the brink of passing out.

The man didn't even seem to notice that Cassandra was suffocating, he was dead set on making her drink the whole thing and he wasn't bulging an inch too focused on getting his task done.

So focused he didn't even see the flying pan rapidly approaching his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up making a deviation from my rough draft, it shouldn't affect the rest of the story, but I feel it's much needed for Cass and Raps's friendship to start healing.  
> if you are wondering what was supposed to happen, WolfCass was going to run off the moment she heard Raps calling out for her.  
> Now we got a full new arc that wasn't even supposed to exist, enjoy! XD
> 
> Oh by the way I didn't put a ship in the tags, cause I was unsure if it was going to end up going here and didn't want people to get their hopes up for nothing.  
> and honestly Cass is bit too messed up for romance at the moment XD


	10. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are pissed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: vomiting.

The man fell backwards unconscious, several feet away from his objective, his face a bloody mess.

A frying pan dented in several places and smeared with his blood discarded not too far from him.

The Coronian princess already giving her back to him as she freed her former handmaiden from his silver chain.

Rapunzel didn't know what happened herself, all she saw was that man on Cassandra and then her body just acted by itself.

She hit him over and over again till she was sure he wouldn't get up, but despite her violent action she found herself unable to care about that man's well being, not while Cassandra was vomiting and struggling to regain her breath.

Pascal went towards the waterskin and the violet dense liquid that spilled on grass, killing it upon touching it.

He let out a loud alarming chirp to catch Rapunzel's attention, whose eyes widened in fear knowing that substance had been forced down Cassandra's throat.

"Cass! It’s okay I am here, try to spit all it out!" the Princess felt powerless and afraid, what if she had been too late?

Her fear just increased when blood started pouring out along with bile.

The only thing Rapunzel could do was to keep Cassandra lying on her side so wouldn't suffocate by accident.

HOOT HOOT

"Owl!" the Princess head snapped towards the bird of prey "Take Pascal and get help!" it was a desperate plea, one that was immediately fulfilled as Pascal climbed on Owl's back and the duo flew away.

Her attention went back to her injured friend, who had stopped throwing up her guts and instead had settled into a raspy laboured breathing, one completely bloodshot eye looking ahead unfocused.

Rapunzel gently moved Cassandra so she was laying on her back, her head resting on the Princess's lap then she used her handkerchief to clean up the left over bile on her face.

She tried to ignore the growing red bandage covering Cassandra's face and plastered a smile on her face

"Cass, you are going to be fine, you hear me? Owl is going to come back soon everything is going to be okay! then when you feel better we are going to h-have a race, just like old times" she tried to be her cheerful self but the traitorous tears running down her cheeks broke that illusion, soon she was weeping and her vision became a blur.

That's how they found her a mere half hour later, crying over Cassandra's barely breathing form.

* * *

"I can't believe you have been so reckless! Sneaking out the Castle without saying a word, anything could have happened to you out here!" Frederic was livid, his rage coming from the fear he had felt when he checked his daughter room and found it empty, Arianna choose to stay silent knowing it would be like talking to the wind when both of them were so angry.

"Anything could have happened to me? If you had let me join the search party from the start I would have pointed the Guards to look to the right place instead of leaving Cass in the hands of a madman!" Rapunzel was just done, she knew full well her father was trying to protect her and he wasn't the only one, but Cassandra's life was on the line and she couldn't have just stayed put.

"The Guards are perfectly trained to do their tasks" he argued back

"Oh really? I got serious doubts about it if Shorty can make the cut" the Princess outright started down her father, despite him being up the stairs on his fancy throne.

"Who is this _Shorty_?"

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that if I hadn't sneaked out the Castle then Cassandra would be dead, not recovering in the infirmary, because your Guards weren't looking for her, they were looking for a corpse" with that Rapunzel stormed off

"Where do you think you are going!? We aren't done talking!"

"Yes we are!" she didn't even turn to look at him, she just slammed the door behind her, where she was going wasn't his business, she didn't need anyone permission to sit by Cassandra's bedside.

During her walk to the infirmary she bumped into Eugene as she turned a corner.

She didn't want to talk with him.

Not now.

"Sunshine?" Rapunzel barely acknowledged him, she pushed him away, she was completely and utterly furious.

He of all people should have been looking in the right place, he was supposed to be the one to think outside the box, but he didn't he had been looking for a corpse just like everyone else.

How much pain would Cassandra have been spared if he didn't?

* * *

Meanwhile in the Dungeons, the mysterious middle aged man sat up with a groan and found himself chained to a wall and behind bars.

He let out a frustrated sigh then he frowned as he sniffed the air.

An all too familiar scent filling his nostrils.

"Gothel?"

* * *

The doors to the throne room had just been violently closed, when Quirin threw them open in fury his hand tightly clasped around a piece of paper.

"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded

"Quirin, my friend what's wrong?"

"Don't my friend me, how could you?! I thought you were giving Varian a second chance instead you set him to fail with an impossible list of chores!" he proceeded to throw the list to the ground "and don't tell me that's Cassandra's usual list, cause I won't believe it" both King and Queen had no idea what he was talking about "I hope you are satisfied your majesty, my son passed out and had to be brought to the infirmary" Quirin left before any of the monarch could say a thing

"Nigel, pass me that paper" Queen Arianna said after a moment of silence.

Wife and Husband scanned its contents with a growing frown.

"Summon Lady Crowley" Arianna had exclaimed with barely restricted rage.

"Your majesty?" Nigel had never heard the Queen use such tone and was startled

"You heard her!" Frederic had roared making the royal advisor scramble to execute the order as quickly as possible.

* * *

Cassandra woke up expecting to still be in the woods, but instead she had been greeted by the familiar ceiling of the Castle infirmary, not feeling much better then when she woke up last time.

What happened? Did she pass out while trying to reach the Castle?

Ah her head was killing her and it was as if someone had poured sand down her throat.

Wait, she had been attacked right after she...she looked at her hands as if they were going to betray her any moment, the ghost feeling of claws and fur still vivid in her mind.

Meow

She followed the sound and saw Kit looking at her from his curled position in on her lap; Cassandra pushed herself in a sitting position with a hiss, her ribs protesting to the movement.

She scratched the cat's ear earning a delighted purr in exchange; she tried to talk but ended up coughing, her throat and mouth too dry to produce sound.

Water she needed water, she scanned the room for a glass or something but her eye instead widened to the sight of the only another patient besides herself.

The door busted open catching her attention.

The anger she might have felt seeing the Princess turned to shame

"Cass you are awake!" Rapunzel couldn't contain her joy in seeing Cassandra sitting up and run up to give her a big hug, only to let go the moment she head a yelp of pain "I am so sorry! are you okay?" the Princess had such guilty and worried look on her face, the former handmaiden only felt her shame growing over it being directed to someone like her.

"Rgph" she tried once again to talk but ended up in coughing fit which wasn't appreciated by her mostly likely broken ribs.

In no time a glass filled with fresh water was pushed to her lip, she drank it greedily then she was gently pushed down, her blankets were being put back to their proper place.

"Cass, it's okay don't try to talk the Healer said your throat was damaged by the poison, but don't worry it's nothing permanent" Rapunzel explained as she essentially tucked her in "Now while I am happy you are already feeling good enough to sit up, I think the Healer will agree with me that it's best if you stay in bed and rest some more" an awkward silence fell, the blonde glanced to the curled orange cat as she searched for something to say "your new friend over here has been keeping you company and scratching anyone that tried to kick him out"

Silence fell again

"it's almost time for Dinner, I will go get some soup for you, think you can stay awake till I come back?" instead of answering that with a nod Cassandra grabbed Rapunzel's sleeve and tried to gesture with her eye towards the other patient.

"Oh you want to know why Varian is here?" Cassandra nodded "He collapsed during work, nothing too serious he will be back to his feet by tomorrow, but he will have to take it easy for a while."

He collapsed trying to do her duty list by himself and she couldn't even remember what she was doing in the woods in the first place.

Why did she turn in that monster?

Just what happened to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is my version of No time like the Past and you are going to meet some assholes.
> 
> Ps: Cass relatively quick recovery is due to her being a Werewolf, had she been an human she would either be dead or still unconscious.


	11. Something is Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel finds out what happened in Cassandra's room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly didn't expect this set up scene to become a whole chapter.  
> Sorry the "No time like the Past" chapter got delayed, I am not even sure the next part won't turn up into a chapter.

"Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about your eye as it was removed" the Healer had informed Cassandra right after a tense dinner, a quick look to a guilty and upset Rapunzel told her she didn't want her to know just yet "The burns on your chest are severe enough to leave a mark and we must keep a close eye on those as they could get infected, most of your ribs are broken" he examined her eyes, which still had an hint of red "you probably expelled most of the poison by vomiting and my potions are doing the rest, but you are still suffering a fever, unfortunately we don't know which kind of poison he gave you, but you expelled most of the poison by vomiting so it's nothing to worry about."

"heh inhghject mehh wiigh shughmthig" Cassandra tried her best to talk despite her throat hurting, she pointed to her neck, trying to tell him her assaulter had injected her with something

"The substance damaged your throat, I have made a tonic among other things to ease your recovery, but it's best you don't attempt to talk" of course the healer didn't get it "you will need to stay here for a few weeks, I suggest sending someone to recover a change of clothes to make yourself more comfortable"

"I will do it!" Rapunzel was all too eager to help and rushed off before Cassandra could do anything to stop her.

Her room was practically empty; there weren't spare clothes to get besides her maid uniform.

Wait, that's right she went out to buy clothes...then Mrs. Madison pointed her the way to her Mother's cottage.

...She can't remember what happened next...

...a river?...

"Cassie! are you okay?" her thoughts were interrupted by a Varian's worried voice, her eyes settled on him in an instant, his bed was across her to the right, he was sitting up and looking at her with both a concerned and relieved expression "You just disappeared, we were all worried sick about you! Where have you been?"

She looked away from him in shame, knowing it was her fault he collapsed.

"You, Miss Scudo is recovering but due to a throat injury she can't answer you and you shouldn't encourage her to talk, as a matter of fact she's supposed to be resting and you shouldn't disturb her" the Healer interrupted Varian from asking more questions, which didn't stop the boy to glance at Cassandra in worry, yet the woman looked at the man of medicine with a slight frown.

Why was she getting mad all of the sudden?

"Sorry...wait what I am doing here?" the alchemist was quite confused

"You passed out during your punishment" the grown up man was curt and to the point, clearly irritated by Varian's question.

The more the healer made his hostility know, the more Cassandra could feel her own heart beating faster and an unknown fury growing inside of her.

Was she going to turn into that monster right now?

No, she had to control herself.

Just think of breathing.

She had to calm down.

Kit had sensed her distress and meowed to catch her attention, but Cassandra had gone rigid and tense.

The orange cat jumped to a nearby bed and waited, its eyes trained on his human.

"Where is my Dad?" totally oblivious to Cassandra's struggle, Varian had meekly asked, not wanting to stay in the company of this Healer

"He had the nerve to go complain to the King! As if you didn't already get a joke of a sentence!"

That was it a line had been crossed, but in that exact moment it was as if she had been roughly pulled back and punished by a thunder strike

* * *

When Rapunzel entered Cassandra's room she was a little taken back by the lark of weapons, she glanced at the still present bed that was Varian's and wondered if Cassandra would agree to slumber party.

She pushed the idea away and focused on her task, she needed to get some comfy clothes for Cass, maybe even a blanket, and she knows Cass has a stuffed owl somewhere.

It should be all easier to find without the clutter of weapons.

Yet when she opened up the closet all that was greeted was a few sets of a yellow maid uniform and an horrible note plastered on the inside

**_This is all you will ever be, get used to it_ **

Rapunzel peeled off the offending note with barely restrained rage, crumbling the paper with both hands, and then she checked all the drawers.

Her frown deepening as she found out they were all empty.

This wasn't fair.

Her father had told her he would just take Cass's weapons, not all of her things! And this message? No wonder Cassandra was mad at her!

He lied to her and went behind her back again.

He wasn't going to get away with it.

Not this time.

* * *

Everyone moved away as their usually sunny princess marched towards the Throne room with a deadly glare in her eyes.

Well everyone but Eugene

"Sunshine? What happened?" he had asked walking along side her, he didn't try to touch her if their earlier encounter was any indication Rapunzel was quite cross with him, as a matter of fact he was ignored again.

Still he kept following her; whatever had pissed her off so much must be urgent.

They arrived in the Throne room just in time to hear

"You told Mrs. Crowley to give her extra chores?" The King had incredulously said to an apologetic Captain of the Guards, to his left side Mrs. Crowley was watching the whole thing with her usual serious expression and to his right Quirin was outright glaring him with his arms crossed.

Rapunzel didn't give a damn about whatever they were arguing about.

"What's the meaning of this?!" she marched to her Father throne and threw the paper to his face, which bounced in her Mother's lap

"Rapunzel not now, don't you see...""I don't care you told me you were only taking her weapons, not all of her stuff! And what's that message supposed to mean?" the Princess didn't let him speak, yet the confusion on his face spoke for him and Rapunzel's fury receded a little

"...you didn't have anything to do with it?"

"Honey, I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about" he answered truly

"I went in Cassandra's room to get some of her clothes, but it was empty except for some maid uniforms hanging in the closet with that" Rapunzel pointed to the message Arianna was glaring at so intensely the paper might be set on fire.

"Lady Crowley, you were also in charge of taking Cassandra's weapons to the storage, might I ask what's the meaning of this? This is the same calligraphy on Cassandra's chores list" the Queen held out both for them all to see.

They were indeed a match.

"That's not my calligraphy" Lady Crowley suddenly said "and while the Captain may have told me to give Cassandra more chores on occasion, I am not that crazy to give her that many and don't put a lunch break"

"Are you insinuating someone changed Cassandra's chore list and took the initiative to steal from her room?" Arianna told her in tone that made it clear that she wasn't to be made a fool “it appears unlikely as you were the supervisor of both events and if only Cassandra's chores were altered then more maids would have had the same tasks"

"I told you as it was your majesty, I don't know how it happened just that I didn't do it" the old maid was adamant about this and it convinced the Queen of her innocence

"Nigel, I want you to summon all the maids here first thing in the morning, if Lady Crowley didn't have an hand in this then it's most likely some of them did or were complicit" she ordered the advisor, who quickly agreed, before turning her stare to the Captain

"Now I would like to know my Captain, why you pushed more chores on Cassandra and how many times you did so" Arianna let out a hand to stop Rapunzel from chewing off the Captain's head right now.

"...your Majesty, I did it to keep my daughter busy...I hoped that she would stop getting into fights and forget about joining the guard if I just kept her occupied" the Captain confessed

"You do realize this chore list would keep five maids busy?"

"I only authorized such measures if Cassandra's misbehaved and during events"

"So Cassandra wouldn't be able to temporary join the Guards even if you needed more soldiers" Rapunzel filled out the blanks for him "You never wanted to give her a chance"

"Captain, you are in charge of the Guard and have the authority to decide who joins and who doesn't, but you have absolutely no authority over this castle's workers and it was completely out of the line for you to interfere" the Queen didn't stop here "this coupled with your recent behaviour and the fact my own daughter found Cassandra in mere hours as opposed to the whole of our Royal Guard makes me wonder if you are the right person for this job"

"I am sorry, your majesty" the Captain didn't even dare to look at his Queen in the eye

"Quirin, my friend" the King addressed the farmer "I believe given the current information that Varian had just been unlucky and Cassandra had been the intended target of this, of why she didn't make word of any of this to us I wouldn't know what to tell you"

"If I may your Majesty" Quirin had considerably calmed down since it had been cleared the King didn't target his boy, and he resumed speaking once he received a nod from the royal "as you know the Moonstone has destroyed my home country and almost killed my King, so I was concerned about Cassandra and asked her how she felt"

"How is this relevant?" Frederic interrupted "and what did she say?" Arianna was quick to say

"She told me she felt nothing"

"That's a good thing?" the King assumed the Moonstone didn't hurt her

"No, your highness, Cassandra can't feel anything, she told me she wasn't sure if it was the Moonstone doing or she just stopped to care" Quirin let the words sink for a moment "I afraid the Moonstone had a terrible effect on Cassandra and thinking back I should have warned your highness about it, a person without emotions can be a danger to others and themselves, that could be the reason she didn't report anything"

"You should have indeed made word of this, my friend" Frederic agreed with a sigh "but I can see you had bigger things to worry about so I won't hold it against you, I guess it will be for the best to assign a guard to watch over Cassandra"

"But Dad! The Moonstone is gone; there is no need to punish Cassandra more!" Rapunzel was quick to protest

"We don't know if there have been any permanent side effects from the Moonstone"

"But Cass can't even get out of bed! This is just unnecessary!" the Princess wasn't going to let her father have his way, not this time.

"Frederic, it will be a while before Cassandra will get out the infirmary, I am sure the staff will gladly report to us anything out of the ordinary" Arianna sided with her daughter on this one.

"Fine, I will concede that" between his wife and daughter what else was he supposed to do? Besides they were kind of right.

"I am sorry to badge in the conversation" Eugene suddenly spoke "but wouldn't it be wise to just ask the Dragon lady instead of making up theories on why she didn't report this? Knowing her I bet she was just acting tough"

"That would be a good suggestion, but Cass can't talk at the moment" Rapunzel said back, she was still mad at him.

"But she can write, can't she? Besides we got another witness"

"Witness?"

"Varian of course! He was glued to her so he must have noticed something"

* * *

A few minutes later Quirin, Rapunzel and Eugene were in the infirmary; however Cassandra wasn't in any shape or form to answer any question

"What happened? I thought her fever was under control" the Princess asked seeing her unconscious form plagued by an high fever, when just an hour before despite being quite beat up Cassandra seemed to be on the way to recovery.

What changed?

"It's that boy's fault! He disturbed her and she had a collapse!" the Healer pointed his finger to a shaken up Varian

"That wasn't a simple collapse, she was convulsing! She coughed up blood!"

"You shouldn't have agitated her!"

"I was talking to you!"

"Enough! what's clear is that my son isn't welcome here, so we are leaving!" Quirin scoped up Varian in his arms and simply left.

"Follow me old man" Eugene suddenly said arms crossed

"Excuse me?" the Healer indignantly talked back

"The Dragon lady isn't so fragile, the poison she was forced to drink must be what's causing this, so we are going to kindly ask the asshole what kind of poison it was so you can make a working antidote and not a grandma remedy"

"How dare you!" "Do as he says, that's an order" Rapunzel interrupted whatever rant the Healer was about to go on as she changed the wet cloth on Cassandra's boiling forehead to a fresh one, she could absently hear the Healer protest and Eugene dragging him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter the maids and a prisoner are interrogated.  
> Maybe Raps will get to the storage.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for your comments, kudos and bookmarks!
> 
> Happy Halloween!


End file.
